I'm going to revert this journal entry to a book list, my 'books read' for 2016

(10/01/16)
Read 1/2016
Celestial Navigation by Anne Tyler

(18/01/16)
Read 2/2016
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

(24/01/16)
Read 3/2016
At Home by Bill Bryson

(21/02/16)
4/2016
Lie After Life by Kate Atkinson

(07/03/16)
5/2016
Geek Nation by Angela Saini (not registered)

This is a fascinating tour around modern India (c.2012), subtitled ‘How Indian science is taking over the world’ although both titles are misleading. India is catching up. However, neither are the IT specialists, engineers and scientists, nor is the nation as a whole any geekier than the rest of us! I think Saini wanted it to be different, maybe as some kind of pilgrimage and tribute to the land of her fathers?

India does have a unique way of working, maybe an Asian (non-European) way of approaching science, maybe a post-colonial hang-over, maybe the simple expedient of mobilising such a vast and diverse nation trying to catch up with more developed countries. Whichever it is, Indian is using its incredible resource of intelligent motivated people to make great strides in software, medial & bio research, nuclear power, rocket science and eGovernment. I particularly like the cutting edge science competing alongside the wackier pseudo-science and the spiritual past and present; the dirt-poor and illiterate alongside the high tech. India is an endlessly fascinating and surprising place, so I guess they would have to do things differently!

(26/03/16)
6/2016
One Shot by Lee Child

(20/04/16)
7/2016
A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

(20/04/16)
8/2016
Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston

(28/04/16)
9/2016
Essential Elements by Matt Tweed (not registered)

A fascinating tour of The Periodic Table of Elements, from the big band and the birth of everything, to the beauty and symmetry of the table to the sub-atomic strangeness.

(30/04/16)
10/2016
The New Alchemists by Charles Handy (not registered)

Words by CH, pictures by Elizabeth Handy, an exploration of what makes business and social alchemists, i.e. successful serial entrepreneurs. Despite the relatively small London-centric sample, 3 behaviours are identified; Dedication, Doggedness & Difference...and many other inconclusive factors, such as mentors, supportive education, leaving school early (not academic careerists), almost always creative & curious driven individuals, sometimes better at creating something from nothing than managing longer-term and wider growth.

(19/05/16)
11/2016
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes

(24/05/16)
12/2016
No Signposts in the Sea by Rita Sackville-West

(04/06/16)
13/2016
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

(15/06/16)
14/2016
The Hard Way by Lee Child

(30/06/16)
15/2016
The Second Curve by Charles Handy (not registered)

Excellent, Handy is as thoughtful and insightful as ever. To do this book justice I will be writing a review blog post. Link to follow.

(04/07/16)
16/2016
Introducing Joyce A Graphic Guide (not registered)

James Joyce was such a complicated character and his books range from complex to unreadable! This little guide is quite complicated in its own right, but it does link his life and influences with his work. Some useful clues on how to read Joyce (aloud in Irish!) and deconstruction of Ulysses...I need all the help I can get...but OMG Finnegan's Wake looks even more 'difficult' :(

(13/07/16)
17/2016
Nation by Terry Pratchett

(26/07/16)
18/2016
It's Not Rocket Science by Ben Miller

(22/08/16)
19/2016
Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

(21/09/16)
20/2016
Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku

(03/10/16)
21/2016
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

(03/11/16)
22/2016
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

(09/11/16)
23/2016
A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen

(20/11/16)
24/2016
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

(Duplicate journal entry 13009179)

(12/12/16)
25/2016
13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks

(14/12/16)
26/2016
Wake up Happy Every Day by Stephen May (not registered)

*Spoilers*

My 2nd May (and his 3rd) and I can’t wait for the next! I love the premise (taking over someone else’s life), the humour, and the rich cast of characters. I even think he did the toughest job of all by pulling it all together with some loose-end-tying and closing vignettes with all the leads.

There could be a whole series of follow-ups and TV/film/stage spin-offs waiting for the author, if he follows the lead of Nick Hornby. I’m only sorry that a couple of the main characters didn’t make the end credits :(

So, Stephen, I feel we’re on first-name terms as he lived and taught in Suffolk, here are a few for free:

- Jesus and Mary’s tattoo parlour
- Lorna and Megan's wine bar workout (with special guests Linwood, F***weasel and members of the HMRC and IRS!)
- Poppy and the naked hiker do jam making (season 2 do kite making)
- Scarlett Knox-Fisher child philosopher superstar
- America weddings in a camper-van

I know you want to read this book now!

(25/12/16)
27/2016
How to predict the weather with a cup of coffee by Matthew Cole

(31/12/16)
28/2016
Inferno by Dan Brown